Texas Tech baseball coach Tim Tadlock knew Friday's historic offensive performance was special. But the 12-year manager also knows that when it comes to baseball, this is just one game and things can change in 24 hours.
“I'm confident they'll come back and be even better tomorrow,” Tadlock said Friday after his team set a scoring record in a game with a 32-5 win over Texas Southern in its home opener. Ta.
Ah, that was sage advice.
The Red Raiders, who had scored 12 runs in the first three innings the day before, allowed zero runs against the Tigers' pitching staff, during which TSU took a three-run lead and silenced the sold-out crowd of 4,432.
But just like the day before, patience turned into success for the Texas Tech batting lineup in the fourth inning — high on TJ Pompey's first three-run homer of the season as part of a 10-run inning. It was Wright — the Red Raiders won 20-4 Saturday in the second of three nonconference games at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.
Pompey finished the day 4-for-5 with five RBIs, a day after fellow freshman Landon Stripling had seven RBIs and Damian Bravo had three RBIs. Drew Woodcox, Gavin Kash, Austin Green and Dylan Maxey each had two RBIs in the win.
The win gives Texas Tech (5-2) a chance to sweep the series against Texas Southern (2-4). The Red Raiders have won their last 20 opening weekend games under Tadlock.
TJ Pompey changes the game in the 4th inning.
Thanks to the good observational skills of Kevin Buzzell, Gavin Kash, and Cade McGee, the Red Raiders set up a big inning with a solid bases loaded hitter. Austin Green, who entered the game batting .429, hit a two-run double down the third base line to start a big inning for Texas Tech. The highlight was TJ Pompey's go-ahead three-run home run before 14 batters took to the plate, and the Red Raiders never relinquished a 10-3 advantage.
Initial momentum change
After a wide throw to second base with one out, Tracer Lopez slid into safety and appeared to have recorded his first stolen base of the season, but at the same time he put a runner in scoring position. Instead, the Red Raiders found themselves trotting back to the dugout.
Home plate umpire Trey Plummer noted that Texas Tech's Kevin Buzzell got in the way of TSU catcher Michael Goudeau, resulting in a unique double play that ended the inning.
Tim Tadlock exited the Red Raiders' dugout and returned after a brief discussion with the home plate umpire.
Missed a chance in the 3rd inning
With one out in the bottom of the third inning, Damian Bravo was 90 feet from home plate.
With Dylan Maxey at the plate, Bravo tried to shift the momentum to the plate, but was caught in no-man's land and in a pickle shortly thereafter. Before the Red Raiders ended the inning on Tracer Lopez's pop fly, Maxey hit a dribbler to Texas Southern pitcher Domenic Martinez, who flipped the ball to the catcher for a tag.
Drew Woodcox's efficient start to the season
In limited at-bats, Drew Woodcox has shown he can swing a stick with a .571 batting average.
Rice now has four hits in seven at-bats, including a two-home run performance against the Tigers on Friday. He had five RBIs before Saturday's tilt.
Woodcox had two RBIs and went 1-for-6 with a hit.
understand their role
The Texas Tech baseball team is loaded with talent, which poses a problem for the coaching staff, for better or for worse. You need to find everyone's at-bats and reps.
That was the situation Saturday as freshman Landon Stripling, who made his second start the day before and had five hits and seven RBIs, was not in the lineup. Gavin Kash, who replaced Stripling at first base in Friday's home opener, returned to action in his normal cleanup position. Both are strong hitters who swing from the left side, and will fight to earn playing time based on their defense at first base.
Kash was hitting .136 (3-for-22, 1 HR) heading into Saturday's contest, while Stripling was hitting .667 (8-for-12, 2 HR). Kash had 2 hits in 4 at bats and 2 RBIs.
“I would say he swung the bat really well after coming off the bench (last Tuesday) and Wednesday (against Oregon State last week),” Tadlock said Friday, adding that Stripling will be in the lineup for the home opener. I talked about the reason. “He had some hits, seven hits, but usually when you get five hits you get some luck. But I'm proud of the way he played today (Friday). had thought…
“We're talking about his first start today, and there was definitely some luck here, but he's a good baseball player, and always has been.”
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what's next
Texas Tech University and Texas Southern University are scheduled to end their three-game series Sunday with a road game at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Red Raiders are in the midst of their longest six-game homestand of the season, which will be followed by a three-game series against Gardner-Webb on March 1 (6:30 p.m.) and March 2. The contest will be streamed online on ESPN+.
